Bryant has only been in the Lakers' lineup six times during the season

Lakers' game ratings on Time Warner Cable SportsNet have "declined 37.5% over the team's first 40 games versus the same period last season," according to Ben Bolch of the L.A. TIMES. Lakers games averaged a 2.72 local rating in L.A. over those games, down from a 4.35 at the same point last season. Meanwhile, the Clippers' TV ratings "also have dipped this season, though not as sharply." The team 1.28 local rating on FS Prime Ticket for the first 40 games was down 14.7% from a 1.5 rating. The "star power of the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and the Clippers' Chris Paul -- and their absence -- has also been reflected in the ratings." In the six games Bryant has played this season, the Lakers "averaged a 3.57 rating on TWC." In the games Paul played "before sustaining a separated shoulder last month, the Clippers averaged a 1.39 rating." There "hasn't been much allure" for the Lakers this season, as the team "has played without Bryant and Steve Nash for most of the season." TWC execs "obviously were hoping for higher ratings" when they agreed to a 25-year, $5B deal with the Lakers. Meanwhile, the Clippers' ratings decline "seems puzzling given the team has a 33-15 record and is atop the Pacific Division." Clippers VP/Communications Seth Burton attributed the ratings drop "to several factors, including more early East Coast starts than usual at this point in the season and a handful of games being televised both locally and nationally" (L.A. TIMES, 1/30).